I think it was 1964 when someone came back from California with
a surfboard and rode it at the north end of Lake Worth beach. It
seems like within a few weeks there were at least 20 more. By
the summer of 65 they were everywhere.
I didn't know any of the very FIRST surfers, but my sister was definately
the first female in our area. Tuppens (boating) sold the first surfboards,
of course longboards only.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/flsurferzmom/
flsurferz@gmail.com
"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!" Dr. Seuss

My brother was the first surfer I ever saw. A surf shop in the early 1960s in Ft. Pierce sold "Corky Carrol" model surfboards - they had ONE! He came to town and they BEGGED my brother not to take his brand new Corky Carrol board off the showroom floor. They wanted it to be there when the man came into town.

So of course my brother told them to drop dead it was paid for (in a much nicer way). Corky saw the board at North Beach with a crowd watching - and asked my brother if he would let him borrow his brand new board. My brother told him to buzz off and go suck on a raw egg... no of course he gladly said "Yes!" and Corky went out and rode the...

6" surf that the North Jetty was producing that day. LOL

But my brother had that board forever. Then when I was a little grom some good friends - a guy named Dana Myers and Chuck Hutchison down in Ft. Pierce chopped it up and made a little board out of it for me (prob 8 years old).

I'd kill to have the old Corky Carrol board back! *grin*

Mikeee P

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"I hate violence. Kill 'em man. Kill 'em all" Glen Frey From Smugglers Blues

Virginia Beach in the early to mid sixties, the surf craze was in full force. Everything from California was the rage back then....frisbees, skim boards, hula hoops, slip'in slides, and of course surfboards. The company called "Wham-O" seemed to have a lock on everything kids our age wanted.

They had the East Coast Surfing Championships in V-beach and we marveled at the skill of these young men, each of us hoping to snag a ride and a board one day. To be part of the scene and to master such a large board seemed like the ultimate sport. We moved to Fla soon after and it took another 15 years for me to assemble a quiver, many of which I own to this day.

I mostly recall the purity of the sport and how strong and athletic those who surfed looked to me as a child. I hope to impart that image to my own kids as they learn the sport as well.

The first "real" surfboard I ever saw was a "Dextra" in the Zayre's (forerunner of Walmart and K-mart) near my house in Miami around 1961 or 62. After seeing the Duke Contest in '63 ( I think) I just HAD to do that surfing thing. There was one surf shop in South Beach called "Surfboard House" that had rental boards, big freakin' heavy things with the word "Rental" painted on the bottom with a number on it. My neighborhood friend's dad was a city of Miami Beach cop and he got us the board for free. We'd take the Miami bus system down to South Beach, get a rental board and take turns. The Miami Beach wind chop was good for learning. My first board was a 9'6" Royal Hawaiin (yellow and blue) that was in horrible condition. I "rode" that for a couple of years before getting my first new board, a 9'6" Harbour Banana model. $125.00 + $10.00 shipping.

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The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness -
John Kenneth Galbraith

Mama G - You say your sister was the first female surfer in her area. I will be working on my forth East Coast Surfing Documentary next year and looking for some of the first female surfers to interview (as I have done in my other movies). If interested, please pass on contact information. You can see information about my latest movie, Board Shorts as well as the other two on my web site http://www.surf64.com .

The East Coast Surf Museum will be premiering Board Shorts on Nov. 17th at the Cocoa Beach Library

Thanks

Will Lucas
will@surf64.com

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Will Lucas - Surf 64 Productions

Where There's a Will, There's a Wave (sm)

Edited: 10/30/2007 at 04:30 AM by surf64

I just saw this post, Will. I'll be glad to share the info. She was quite an amazing surfette (and still is!)

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/flsurferzmom/
flsurferz@gmail.com
"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!" Dr. Seuss

My first board was a 7.0' G. Lopez Lightning bolt. Got it for $20 at a garage sale when I was 12. Had the board until I was 17 and sold it for $50 for gas money back from spring break. I could kick myself every time I think about selling it. That board was a classic, beat to hell, but a classic.

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Specializing in sarcasm and condescending rhetoric since 1971.

o wow

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Toobs and Boobs!!

Surfjet from sun and surf surfshop in Ft. Lauderdale. Every board had a big flower near the nose.

Roger Ormesher,friend of my Dad, and his 9'6" Hansen , Freeport Tx I was 9 yrs old ,1964

Late 50's. Lavallette, N.J

Charlie Keller and Jimmy Crecca (lifeguards) riding styrofoam epoxy boards. Richie Baron on a wooden Tom Blake style hollow board.



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Wooden Boards for Iron Men

Panama City Beach circa 1981 across from the U-Turn-Sunburn-Saloon on 98. A guy had a longboard out and was doing some crazy stuff...including putting his dog on the board with him (dogs were banned a few year later on all the beaches) I thought it was very cool!

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Outta time!

Edited: 07/25/2008 at 09:17 AM by Nugget

First encounter would've been with a high school classmate, circa 1965, Delaware.

in the 60's, I was walking in knee deep water and a surf board slammed into my back, knocked the wind out of me and gave me a scar that I still see 40 years later.
The guys name was Pyle surfing in Indialantic...

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I know it was 1966. a board washed in to the beach on the South side of Sabastian Inlet. My whole family was there, and my mom pulled the board out of the surf and dragged it up. My grandma stood on it and waited for whoever owned it to come in which took some time. Finally a couple of kids convinced her it was their board an she gave it back to them. Mom thinks it was a Velzy, but she's not clear on that.

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I only take the ones heading East!

It was 72' for me and I was in 9th grade in Tampa ready to ditch class. Some older friends came and picked me up and we headed down to Bradenton Twin Piers to be exact. My first board was a Hope Surfboard which I was told came from Cocoa Beach, anybody remember them? It was a fish about 5'10" super wide with a busted nose which was repaired to make it look like a big bullet. It cost me $15 bucks and a couple of doobies.

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"Green Grass and High Tides Forever"

Hope or Hobie?

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/flsurferzmom/
flsurferz@gmail.com
"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!" Dr. Seuss

Wow...Mikee...that was probably my brothers shop, Banzai, or Pier 66. Later would have been Sol Surf Shop.

I went to school with and surfed with the afore mentioned "choppers". I also hung with Dennis Clay who was at the time one of the best HS age surfers around.

My first glimpse at a surfer, or attempted to be surfer was my best friend when we were learning. Circa 1962. We were riding a pop-outs made by Jim Campbell from Melbourne, and shaped by Doug Haut who is now in Santa Cruz, still kickin'.

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"You know some people are different now ain't that a cryin' shame, but wouldn't it be a real drag if we were all the same."

If it was shaped by Doug Haut and glassed by Jim Campbell..it was NOT a popout! If it was made in the early '60's it probably was an Inter Island as Haut, Campbell AND Mike Diffenderfer were shaping there at the time. Though I wasn't in Central Florida at the time I guess it is possible Haut/Campbell did make some boards in the area at one time.

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The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness -
John Kenneth Galbraith

Edited: 12/22/2008 at 12:50 PM by eibla

Cambells were sold locally in the CB area.



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